Ekta Somera’s poem The Sunflower gives us some much needed light and colour and also, especially in the last line, food for thought in the dingy weeks after the lights of Diwali, Christmas and New Year have faded away.
The Sunflower
she wore the sunlight
like an oversized sweater
and somehow
her warmth reached you
before her skin could
although when night came
her golden face would frown
at the roots that held her down
as if she longed for a breeze
to take her to some place
where darkness ceased to exist
for this yellow flower was buried
in every woe the soil carried
By Ekta Somera
Ekta is a 23 year old, South African youth ambassador, the author of Made in Poetry and the founder of Paper Trail Literary Journal. She is passionate about leading into a changing world and creating opportunities for youth development. Ekta is a recipient of the Panache KZN Women of a Wonder Award and she was named amongst the Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans in 2022.
Thanks so much to Ekta for her poem and to rehan shaik on Unsplash for the Sunflower photo.
Young Poets' Stories 